A New Beginning
by shana2
Summary: ever consider what it would've been like if it was the other way around as most people say in their fics? like if lily was the poplular and loved one and james was the timid or out-of-the-limelight one? well, you better read this even if you haven't. it'l
1. Luck that's needed

chapter 1.  
  
[A/N hello and welcome to the new fic by the one and only...shana! i hope you have fun reading it. it's sort of third person limited POV, if anyone other than me knows what that means... this is pretty much about what the summary said it would be. and for those of you with short term memory loss, here it is:  
ever consider what it would've been like if it was the other way around as most people say in their fics? like if lily was the poplular and loved one and james was the timid or out-of-the-limelight one? well, you better read this even if you haven't wondered that. it'll be a new thing for you.   
yeah, i know some personalities are out of whack, but as this continues, i know it'll get straightened out. i think you'll have to wait till like the 4th or 5th chap. i'm not sure at the moment...]  
  
Lily was sitting on an armchair in the corner of the Gryffindor common room, surrounded by a group of boys and girls as usual. James glanced at her and shook his head, standing up to leave.  
  
He arrived in his dorm room within minutes. As he sat on his bed, his friend Sirius came up to him and said, "I heard Lily doesn't have a boyfriend yet this week. Should I go ask her out?"  
  
James looked at his friend and replied, "We are first years, Sirius. Are you a little out of your mind?"  
  
"Well, so is she."  
  
"What is she? Out of her mind?"  
  
"Very funny. No, she's also a first year."  
  
"She is?"  
  
"Yeah. Remember at the sorting feast she sat next to you?"  
  
"Actually, I sat next to you and she was on my other side."  
  
"Oh. Well... So should I ask her?"  
  
"Where would you go? Either way, I frankly don't care."  
  
"What kind of friend are you, James?"  
  
"I am a smart one, thank you very much."  
  
"Whatever. Well, wish me luck!" Sirius left the dorm room, slamming the door behind him.  
  
"You'll need it," James muttered. 


	2. New friends or not?

chapter 2.  
  
"So, whatcha doin'?"  
  
James looked up from Quidditch Through the Ages. His head bumped someone's jaw.  
  
"Ouch!" the person exclaimed as James apologized. He turned around, but he didn't need to. He had already assessed the voice to belong to Lily Evans.  
  
"Lily?" he asked, looking at her.  
  
"Yeah," she replied.  
  
"What're you doing?"  
  
"Do you always ask questions?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Apparently so. Well, I was talking to your buddy Sirius the other day."  
  
"You mean he was talking to you."  
  
"Same difference."  
  
"Uh-huh?"  
  
"Yeah. Anyways, he told me that you don't really care about me."  
  
"That's true. Just wondering, but are you going to stand there the whole time?"  
  
"No! Can I sit in your lap?"  
  
"Certainly NOT!" James exclaimed indignantly.  
  
"That's exactly what I mean," Lily explained, sitting on an arm of James's chair.  
  
"What is?"  
  
"Most guys would scream with pleasure if I asked them that."  
  
"They would scream in the LIBRARY?"  
  
"Well, maybe."  
  
"So, then what's your problem?"  
  
"My problem? No, it's yours."  
  
"I do NOT have a problem!" People looked at James. He ignored them.  
  
"No, you don't," Lily said.  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"Well, you don't *like* me."  
  
"So? That just means that I'm normal."  
  
Lily laughed. "I guess so. Guys go sort of crazy around me."  
  
"You noticed."  
  
She laughed again. "Okay, James; I'll get to the point. Since your not, like, obsessed with Hogwarts' most eligible bachelorette, I was wondering if you wanna be my friend."  
  
"Your friend? Why, do you have none?"  
  
"Yes, I have friends, just no guy friends."  
  
"Oh, well, I never really thought about that."  
  
"Well, think fast. So, you gonna be my bud or not?"  
  
"You're not used to asking this, are you? Well, I guess I'll be your friend."  
  
"Thank you so much!" She hugged him. He hugged back reluctantly. "So," Lily continued, "can I sit by you at dinner tonight? My so-called friends get annoying."  
  
"You're kidding me."  
  
"Nope. See ya at dinner!" she called as she left the library. Everyone in the library looked at James. All the boys shot him daggers. Luckily, magic wasn't permitted in the library.  
  
*Oh, great,* James thought. *They think I'm her new boyfriend.*  
  
He left the library as quickly as he could, leaving Quidditch Through the Ages on his chair. Even the librarian shot him a dirty look. As he walked through the halls, he wondered if his new friendship would be worth all its trouble.  
  
[A/N good second chapter or not? be a responsible reader and REVIEW! okay, stupid computer is turning redundant now. or maybe its just me. probably is just me.] 


	3. Enlightenment

chapter 3.  
  
At dinner that night, Lily sat on the end of the table next to James. Sirius was sitting across from James, drooling into his plate.  
  
Lily and James had alot in common, James realized. Both were at the top of their class, first years, spent lots of their free time in the common room or library reading for pleasure [unlike most of their fellow students], and were obsessed with sleeping.  
  
"My friends are ALWAYS telling me that I sleep too much!" Lily exclaimed.  
  
"So is Sirius, here. Don't you?" James said, looking at Sirius..  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, yeah." He was so busy staring at Lily that he didn't even know what he was saying.  
  
"You haven't eaten a thing, Sirius." James rolled his eyes at Sirius and glanced at Lily.  
  
"Exactly! You know, I was just thinking that. Homework is SO time consuming."  
  
"Your hair is such a cool shade of blue, Sirius. How did you get it like that? Or were you born like that?"  
  
"It's very easy, actually. First, take out the first three positive integers and replace the second multiplication sign with a negative seven." [A/N duh, i made this mathematical process up.]  
  
"Really? I didn't know that!" Lily exclaimed, catching on. "Wow, that shark fin must taste good, huh Sirius?"  
  
"I love that color too! It's been my favorite since the second standard." [A/N that's what they call 'em in boarding schools...]  
  
Lily and James giggled and returned to their previous conversation, ignoring Sirius's slobber that was starting to collect on the empty golden plate.  
  
Soon, dinner was over. Lily and James walked back to the Gryffindor tower together -- Sirius following them like a sick puppy and everyone, boys and girls, glaring at James.  
  
*I'm really starting to get sick of everyone looking at me that way,* James thought. *I've gotta tell Lily what I think about it.*  
  
"Uh, Lily?" he said, interrupting her sentence.  
  
"What?" she asked, her hair bouncing over her shoulders as she looked at him and her voice showing the tiniest hint of impatience.  
  
"Everyone's staring at us."  
  
"So? What's so great about that?"  
  
"Lily, they think I'm your new boyfriend."  
  
"What? Bu-but you're not!"  
  
"I don't think THEY know that."  
  
"Then we better tell them. Hey, everyone! I've got something to tell you!"  
  
Everyone in the hallway turned and looked at her. James tried to slide away. People were shooting daggers at him again.  
  
"I didn't mean tell the whole school," James muttered as Lily continued.  
  
"James is not my new boyfriend. You get that? He is not--"  
  
"I think they get it, Lily."  
  
"No they--oh, okay."  
  
Some people were still glaring at James, but most of the others were smiling. Especially the third years and older. Some of them started giggling in groups again, others just continued their walk to their dorms.  
  
Sirius and James's other friend Remus sidled up to James.   
  
"So she's not your girlfriend?" Sirius asked, nervously. [A/N yeah, i know that sirius wasnt really the nervous type. just for this fic, okay? or maybe this chapter...]  
  
"Of course not, you bimbo," Remus replied, rolling his eyes.[A/N i know they prob wouldn't have said 'bimbo'. i might as well switch Lupin's lines with Sirius's.]  
  
"How thick are you, Sirius?" James said.  
  
"Very," Remus said before Sirius could reply. Lily, James, and Remus laughed and kept walking, leaving Sirius to think about what had just happened.  
  
[A/N the no-long-awaited third chapter is now up. well, maybe not so long awaited. i can't believe i already put three chapters up today, and i'm supposed to be working on a science report. oops...] 


	4. Major change

chapter 4.  
  
[A/N get ready for some major changes! that pretty much sums it up...]  
  
A while later, Sirius appeared in the common room. James, Remus, and Lily looked up from their game of Exploding Snap; it had been Remus's proposition and he was losing badly to Lily. Lily gave a small gasp.  
  
To put in a nutshell, Sirius looked seething. He stalked his way towards James. People stopped what they were doing to see what would happen.  
  
"S-sirius?" James stuttered.  
  
"Yeah, it's me." He stopped about a foot away from James and remained standing.  
  
"What's up, buddy?" James asked timidly. He seemed to be losing all the courage and normal-ness he had held just moments before.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Except the way you've been acting."  
  
"And-and how would that be?"  
  
"Oh, just the way you are now that LILY is your new best friend."  
  
"She's not my--"  
  
"Let me finish. Listen, James. Ever since you became friends with that--that GIRL, you've ignored me."  
  
"Sirius," Lily cut in, "I've known James for one full day."  
  
"And your point is?"  
  
"He's been with you most of the day. I was with him in the morning for a couple minutes, at dinner, and now. And, might I add, you're the one that introduced us."  
  
"Oh. Well, that's true."  
  
"So can you stop jumping on him now?"  
  
"Jumping on him?" He looked at James.  
  
James had shrunk into his chair so much that it seemed as if he were part of it. Remus leaned over and pulled him up. It didn't matter, though. James just slid back down.  
  
Quietly, Lily stood and muttered to Sirius, "Can I talk to you in the hall, Sirius?" Sirius, having some manners, did not decline, for it was very rude to decline a lady, or girl in this case.  
  
They climbed through the portrait hole. The crowd leaned towards the closed hole in hopes of listening in on the conversation; no one seemed to think of the clear-seeing charm, in which the user can see straight through walls and listen too.  
  
Noticing that none of the attention was on him, James quickly stood and quietly left the room. He headed towards his dorm room, but instead he went all the way to the top of the stairs and just sat on the top step (which was unnaturally wide) and leaned against the wall to the side.  
  
For some reason, as he sat on the step, Gryffindor House didn't appeal to him.  
  
Actually, Hogwarts in general didn't seem as awesome as it had at the beginning of the year.  
  
[A/N why is he sitting there? why is hogwarts so 'uncool' suddenly? i know why, because i am wrote this chapter and the 5th chapter on the same day. well, review (please!) and read the next chapter to find out the answer to the whys!] 


	5. Lost with a visitor

chapter 5.  
  
[A/N if something or someone seems weird to you, i probably own them. otherwise, i dont.]  
  
The next morning, James woke wearing pajamas and laying on a bed in a room empty of all people. He felt erased of all memory of the night before. He leaped out of bed and searched for his robes. They were gone. He decided to leave this place anyway. Just as he touched the doorknob, he remembered what day it was.  
  
Saturday.  
  
He could have just stayed in the bed, even if he didn't know where he was. So that was exactly what he decided to do. As soon as he got back in the bed.  
  
What seemed like hours later (and a nice dream later), James woke up again, but this time to a soft voice calling his name. He kept his eyes shut.  
  
"James? James, are you okay?"  
  
He stirred. His eyelids seemed heavy, but he forced himself to open them.  
  
"Lily? What are you doing here? Better yet, where is 'here'?"  
  
She stuffed some pillows she found next to James under him, so he could sit up. "This is the hospital wing. You were found unconscious on the boys' stairs last night."  
  
"What was I doing on the stairs?"   
  
"I was hoping you knew."   
  
"Sorry, can't help there." They laughed.  
  
"So why did you come? Why not Sirius or Remus or someone?"  
  
"I think Sirius might seem a little different to you. And Remus is busy stuffing his face at lunch."  
  
"LUNCH!"  
  
"Yeah, it's noon."  
  
"Whoa."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So, why DID you come?"  
  
"Just wanted to see how you were. Hey, I'm your friend, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Probably my only girl friend." At Lily's shocked look, he continued: "No, not my girlfriend; GIRL friend."  
  
"I get it. For a second I thought you were going back on what you told me last night."  
  
"No way."  
  
"Not in a million years?"  
  
"Well, maybe..."  
  
Lily grinned. "I knew I could get through to you."  
  
"Well, I think I'm just not ready to start going out or anything like you do."  
  
"Whaddya mean, 'like I do'?"  
  
"I dunno. It's sort of like, well...okay. We're both first years."  
  
"I noticed that."  
  
"And we're, like, opposites."  
  
"Opposites?"  
  
"Yeah. Like you go out with every guy you meet and are all popular, and I haven't gone out with anyone yet and am not popular at all."  
  
"That's not--"  
  
"Don't deny it."  
  
"Okay, fine. It's true."  
  
"Then why do you do it? Go out with like every other guy, I mean?"  
  
"It got me popular."  
  
"You mean you'd be willing to do anything to be popular?" Before she could cut in, he quickly added, "I just don't think it's a great idea."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I used to look down on you and think you were a complete ditz. But now that I sort of got to know you, I know you aren't. I mean, if you didn't go out for one week people would still think you were cool."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Definetely."  
  
[A/N good or not? review, cuz i want to know! ch.5 and 6 used to be one long chapter; good thing i separated them. i think...] 


	6. Wager and some chocolate

chapter 6.  
  
[A/N refer back to ch.5 if you're lost.]  
  
[Disclaimer! i own like barely anything. just the plot. which i think i own. this little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me that it owns the plot...]  
  
"Okay, you're on."  
  
"On?"  
  
"Yeah. I won't go out with anybody next week. You just watch and see."  
  
"You sure you can do it? I mean, the average eleven-year-old can't live up to something like that."  
  
"I'm not average. I'm a witch. And the average eleven-year-old probably hasn't even gone out with anyone."  
  
"I guess so. So, what'll you wager?"  
  
"Wager?"  
  
"Yeah. You know, bet. If you can't do it I get to...have you as my servant for a whole day. That means carry my books around, too!"  
  
"Servant? Well, if I can do it, then you have to be MY servant for a day."  
  
"And you have to do it for the next week too. And the week after that, and the week after that, and the week after that--"  
  
"Okay, okay. I get the picture. You're on."  
  
They shook hands, grinning.  
  
James heard footsteps. James looked past Lily and saw a lady in a crisp white nurse's uniform coming towards him holding a block of chocolate. Lily turned and noticed the lady too.  
  
"Good, you're up," the woman said. "I'm Madam Pomfrey, the nurse."  
  
"I'm allergic to chocolate," James said quietly. Lily looked at him, amazed, for just last night he had eaten three chocolate frogs.  
  
"Heavens, no, child. I know you aren't. Now, eat. Or would you like your friend here to feed you?"  
  
Lily blushed as James replied, "No! I can feed myself."  
  
"Very well, then." Madam Pomfrey handed the chocolate to James and he started eating it ravenously, making a show to so the nurse would leave. She did.  
  
"Since when was chocolate healthy?" Lily asked as James put the chocolate in the small table next to him.  
  
"Ask my mum that one. She's been feeding me chocolate to fix me up since I was six."  
  
"Must be a wizard thing."  
  
"Definetely is. I heard that Muggle kids got cavatios or something from it."  
  
"Cavities. I've always had to eat chocolate sparingly; Mum and Dad didn't want me springing up with cavities and needing fillings and braces like my sister Petunia has. My younger sister Rosalind, or Rosie, and I ended up with perfect teeth. Mum and Dad don't want to spend money on teeth that are already pretty."  
  
"I never noticed your teeth," James said.  
  
Lily smiled, showing her pearly white teeth. "You just did."  
  
They laughed, and James finished the chocolate.  
  
[A/N this chapter seemed short to me. well, that's just me. what about you? i wanna know, so review!] 


	7. The note

chapter 7.  
  
[A/N if u wanna know, i went back and changed the previous chaps so you figure that james wears glasses.]  
  
[Disclaimer! i own nothing. not even these words. some guy, prob named mr. webster, invented these.]  
  
A few hours later, James woke up. He pulled his glasses on and fluffed up the pillows under him. He glanced next to him and noticed Lily asleep in the chiar she had been sitting in. She turned her head -- still asleep -- and James watched as the light shining through the window to his left seemed to bounce off of her ruby red hair as it shook on her shoulders. [A/N dark red hair just looks better than orangish; no off. or nEthing 2 u w/orangish hair, tho]  
  
He blinked his eyes rapidly. *No, don't let her looks get to you.* She was just a friend.  
  
A friend. And a rather nice one, too. He didn't expect any friend to spend the better part of their day in the hospital wing. Sleeping.  
  
He remembered the bet they had made earlier and smiled. Of course, James had complete confidence in Lily. She would most likely win the bet. But she wouldn't raise the term servant too much, would she?  
  
Lily's eyelids fluttered open. Her emerald green eyes took in their surroundings and she smiled at James. He grinned back.  
  
"So, you decided to wake up."  
  
"What! You've been up a long time staring at me!"  
  
"Stare--wha--no!" James stuttered as he looked at Lily, shocked.  
  
"I knew I'd get to you in time." She winked. "Gotcha."  
  
"Yeah, you did. So, by any chance, do you know what time it is?"  
  
She glanced at her left wrist. "Yeah. It's about seven-fifteen."  
  
"Are you sure that there's a watch on that hand of yours?"  
  
"Yes! Even look." She pushed back the sleeve of her robe and showed him the sliver plated Fossil watch.  
  
"Nice. Okay, I believe you. Hey, just wanted to remind you about our bet. In case you forgot."  
  
"Like I would! Get used to doing stuff, Potter, because this time next week you'll be my personal servant."  
  
"I'm sure. It's more likely that you'll be MY servant, Lily Evans. I don't think you can do it." This, obviously, was a lie.  
  
"I can too! Just you watch, James Potter--I am going to win this bet."  
  
"Whatever you say, Evans." He grinned.  
  
"You hungry? Hey, that Pomfrey lady left us some food."  
  
James glanced at the table next to him, and sure enough, there was two plates of food and two goblets of pumpkin juice he hadn't noticed before. And next to the plates was a piece of parchment. Lily picked it up and read it aloud.  
  
"James Potter and Lily Evans--  
Upon awakening, please alert Madam Pomfrey   
by calling for her. She in turn will alert me, and   
I will come and speak to the two of you.  
Signed,  
Professor Dumbledore"  
  
"What does he want with us?"  
  
"Did we do something wrong?"  
  
"I just want to know why he wants BOTH of us."  
  
"Doesn't matter." She called, "Miz Palm-free! Hi, we're awake!"  
  
James groaned. "Can you be any louder?"  
  
"Yeah. You wanna hear?"  
  
"No thanks."  
  
Madam Pomfrey walked towards the duo and spoke. "I see that you two are awake again. The headmaster will be with you shortly. While you are waiting, you may start on your dinner." She gestured towards the plates and goblets. James and Lily each picked up a plate and some cutlery. They started on their dinner (and lunch) of pot roast and mashed potatoes.  
  
[A/N good chap or no? tell me tell me! in other words, review. want a couple more reviews than i have rite now b4 i post the next chapter!] 


	8. A visit and a finding

chapter 8.  
  
After Lily and James had finished seconds of their pot roast (the plates and goblets refilled themselves) Professor Dumbledore appeared in the infirmary.  
  
Lily put her plate on the table and James followed suit. Dumbledore smiled.  
  
"Hello Miss Evans, Mr. Potter. Fancy meeting you here."  
  
"Mm-hmm," Lily nodded. James said nothing, unmoving, just sat where he was.  
  
"I suppose you are wondering why I amd recieving you."  
  
*That's for sure* James thought.  
  
"Something--funny happened last night. Would you care to elaborate?" He looked at James over the top of his crescent moon glasses.  
  
James realized what the headmaster was talking about. But he wasn't positive; it could be one of two things.  
  
"Uh, I don't really remember what happened. I just remember falling asleep." He hoped that this was what Dumbledore was looking for.  
  
"Hmmm, that changes everything. I was also wondering: do you remember what happened at the library that night?"  
  
James went stiff. Could Dumbledore see anywhere and everywhere in the school?  
  
"No, sir, I don't know."  
  
"Then I will tell you. Last night, two students were seen in the Library."   
  
*It couldn't be us* James thought *we were there long before the night.*  
  
"Um, Professor, who were those two students?" Lily asked. James thought she could read his mind.  
  
"Oh, quite sorry. The students were Katrina Bell and Sirius Black."  
  
"What?!" James and Lily both exclaimed. The two mentioned were in their year.  
  
"Yes. But they didn't go there willingly. It seems that they were acting under the Imperius Curse."  
  
"No way! That's illegal, though," James said.  
  
"That's true, James, but some people will do anything to get something done. Katrina and Sirius were found there this morning heavilly bruised and stuffed into the bottom row of a bookshelf."  
  
"That is so cruel!" Lily cried. Her eyes had started to water.  
  
"I agree, Miss Evans. In fact, Miss Bell and Mr. Black are in this very room. In those two beds."  
  
"We didn't even see them come in," James said, unconvinced.  
  
"We were sleeping," Lily exclaimed.  
  
"True," Dumbledore nodded.  
  
James believed him now. But why would anybody do that? He spoke his last thought.  
  
"We do not know. I do not know who did it either."  
  
They sat for a few minutes in silence.  
  
"Well, I must leave. Will you accompany me, Miss Evans?" Dumbledore stood.  
  
"Um, no, Professor. I think I'll stay with James a while longer."  
  
"Very well. Good bye." Dumbledore disappeared through the doorway.  
  
James looked at Lily. They stared at each other for a few seconds.  
  
Finally, Lily said, "I'm gonna go see if Kat and Sirius are really there. That is so weird, though. Sirius was all normal last night before we went to bed..." She walked over to where Dumbledore had pointed.   
  
"Lil?" James heard faintly.  
  
"Sirius, you're alive!" James could see Lily bending down to hug Sirius. When had they gotten this close?  
  
"Yeah, Lil. How's Kat?" Sirius asked quietly.  
  
"I don't know. Let's see." She walked around Sirius's bed and sat on the other bed. "Kat? You awake?"  
  
"Hi Lil."  
  
Lily squealed. "Kat, you are awake! What happened last night?"  
  
"It's a long story."  
  
"I've got time."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"But I've got one request."  
  
"What?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Could you talk kinda loud? James is over there and he wants to hear, too."  
  
"James? Jamsie-boy, how are ya!"  
  
James insides was twisiting inside him. Sirius HAD changed!  
  
"I'm good, Sirius. You?"  
  
"Great, considering the circumstances." The three on the other side of the room laughed.   
  
James grinned. He definitely liked this Sirius better than the old Sirius.  
  
"Well? What're you waiting for? Get on with the story!"  
* * *  
A/N another chapter up. first day of spring break. review review review! if you have questions, email me or review with your ???s in it. and every1 know that i own none of the characters except for kat. what? it's been 8 chapters and you STILL didnt realize that? jeez, you're slower than i thought. =) 


	9. Story time

chapter 9.  
  
"Sure, sure, whatever," Sirius replied to James. "You wanna start, Kat?"  
  
"Am I looking at the right guy?" Kat asked, dumbfounded. "Is this crazed Sirius who told me that there was someone waiting for me in the fireplace?"  
  
"Crazed? Sirius?" James replied quizically.  
  
"You don't know the NEW Sirius," Kat said, and Lily nodded. Sirius just rolled his eyes.  
  
''Are you gonna start the story anytime soon?'' James asked.  
  
"Yeah. And Sirius is telling the whole thing."  
  
"Wha--but that's not fair--" Sirius stuttered.  
  
''I know it isn't, Sirius,'' Kat said, ''but that's how life is.''  
  
"Good for me," Sirius muttered, then continued in a louder voice. "Well, you guys want to hear the story of my life? Get ready to rumble."  
  
"Shut up, Sirius," Lily and Kat chorused boredly.  
* * *  
"Well, it all began when I was--" ("Just get to the point Sirius," Kat cut in) "--okay, okay, whatever. So, I went down to the common room when I had this brilliant idea. A totally un-like the old Sirius idea.  
"So I go into the first year girls' dorm and walk up to the first bed I see. I wake up the girl in there and say that there's someone standing in the fireplace to see them."  
  
"You did not say 'someone,' Sirius, you said 'Thomas Potter, that Hufflepuff,' and you convinced me that he was like related to James and something war wrong," Kat interrupted.  
  
"Whatever. He's not related to James," Sirius pointed out.  
  
"Who cares? It was like cruel!"  
  
"Was not!"  
  
"Was too!"  
  
"Was not!"  
  
"Was not!"  
  
"Was too! Shoot!" Sirius slapped his forehead.  
  
"Oldest trick in the book, Black. Get used to it." Kat smirked.  
  
"Go Kat!" Lily put in.  
  
"You're pathetic, Sirius," James said.  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Okay, okay. We've gone far enough. Finish the story. Kat?" James prompted.  
  
She nodded. "Okay. So I come down behind Sirius, freaking out because I think you're like hurt (I don't think he realized you didn't show up in your dorm last night) and grabbing his hand, of all gross things!"  
  
"Disgusting!" Lily agreed.  
  
"Yeah! So, then Sirius really freaks and he sees someone leave the common room. And being the smart person that he is, he drags me out. We follow a shadow like into the library. Even into the restricted section, where I did not want to go. But we went, and now you know where we like ended up."  
  
"But do you know who did it?" Lily asked.  
  
"Or who you followed?" James added.  
  
"No idea," Kat replied.  
  
"Oh," Lily and James said, James sort of yelling and Lily sort of whispering.  
  
"Yeah. Well, that's about it."  
  
"Tell me, Kat," James said, "exactly when did you aquire such a profound use of slang?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Ever five seconds, you said 'freaked!' or like or something."  
  
"That's how I've always talked. You just never hung around me much, I guess."   
  
"Muggle upbringing?"  
  
"How'd you know?"  
  
"The schools I went to were private. Fancy schmancy, and sparkling clean. The walls and the language."  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
"Well, that's the whole story? No mysterious details or bloody fingers?"  
  
"You've read like way too many murder mysteries Jamsie. Life's not like that, at least in the wizarding world."  
  
"For once, I guess I agree, Kat."  
  
"For once? Whaddya mean for once?"  
  
"I say what I say, I mean what I mean."  
  
"And I'm supposed to get that?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Boys." Kat rolled her eyes and Lily giggled.  
* * *  
A/N good chap? i found out all those newbies ffn added to the site. like if u see a story u can change the font or the size and stuff. kewl i guess. doesn't really matter 2 me. =) this has got to be the shortest author's note on my record...  
  
diclaimer thingy: it's been nine chapters. get a clue. 


	10. A dream

chapter 10.  
  
A/N: thanx to Devonny Stratton, cuz w/out her i wouldn't b continuing this! now she knows what it feels like to b an acknowledged reviewer. how about u? got any ideas 4 me? =) ... and watch out for the end, it kind of scared me, too.  
  
disclaimer: it's not mine, i'd wish it was, i'm not making money. heck, my isp is free! how low can you go, can you go down low?... Go Mr. C!!! LoL  
  
  
  
Hours had passed. After Kat's little comment, James felt exasperated (for reasons one does not know of) and was asleep in a few seconds. Maybe it was the giggling.  
  
Lily, Kat, and Sirius must have kept talking, getting louder and louder for some reason, because James woke up only an hour later. Yawning, he reprimanded his friends, who took nothing he said too seriously. "Go back to sleep, James," Sirius told him in a phony-adult voice.  
  
"Gladly, sir." Faint snoring was heard a few minutes later.   
  
Sirius stared at James. "I meant it as a joke."  
  
"Guess he's in worse shape than I thought," Lily said quietly, more to herself than the others. They nodded anyhow.  
  
While he slept, obviously, James dreamed of meeting with a fortune teller. Strangely, the fortune teller—Madam Jipsey, she so-cunningly called herself according to a business card that floated above her head—looked like someone he had seen before, he just could not pinpoint it. She had smooth hair that reached a few inches past her shoulders, her light blue eyes were fanned by full lashes (they did not look fake to James, but he was a guy after all), and she had a slight smirk on her face, but at first glance seemed like something illegal. She was wearing a sort of revealing top that streched around her torso like a tube and short skirt. Her legs were crossed and she had boots on that laced up to the end of her skirt. This registered as odd to James, but he was a guy and wasn't really into girls' clothes styles.  
  
But then again, his surroundings themselves were odd enough, even compared to Jipsey.  
  
He was in what seemed to be an open meadow, but upon trying to touch the grass he realized that he was sitting in some type of glass cube with Madam Jipsey. In front of him was a golf ball, hovering in midair between himself and the Madam. He was sitting on a three legged stool, which made him feel as if he were at a bar, and his feet were dangling beneath him. He was wearing his swim trunks—a pair of jet black shorts. He also had on a cap, something he had seen in a John Travolta movie that was called a 'baseball hat,' and it had a hugh H written on it in thick white script. He thought... H for Hogwarts? Hogsmeade? What could it stand for?  
  
"So, James; having fun staring at me?"  
  
"Pardon?" He looked up at the girl, who had just spoken to him. And just as suddenly, her hair was turning redder. And longer. Eyes greener. Boots shorter. Smirk wider. She looked like Lily. Except older.  
  
"Yeah. You heard me. You can lose the whacked 'perfect-English-boy' thing. This isn't foreplay, stupid; we have like thirty seconds until Potions starts, and you know how Crazy Colandra feels about late Gryffindor students."  
  
"Oh. Yeah." And he had thought the Potions professor—Yaleighna—was nice. Hmmm...  
  
"Someone's not sure of himself. Feeling messed up or something? 'Cause this was your idea."  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"This, you idiot!"  
  
James had the feeling of opening his eyes, which seemed odd to him because they were already open. The room around him was dark, but he could make out someone in front of him. He felt himself get pushed on to a chair of some sort. Hot lips pressed against his own and someone's warm arms circled his neck.  
  
He suddenly snapped back into reality, as the girl—Lily, he now realized—ran her tongue across his teeth. He dug his hands into her scalp and ran his fingers through her hair.  
  
"So NOW you're sane again. Where were you for a minute there?" Lily asked, staring into his eyes.  
  
"Just remembering the first time we met."  
  
"Oh and that—" (the bell rang; she ignored it and kept speaking) "—weird dream you had after it?"  
  
"Yeah. Good thing Voldemort didn't get us then, huh?"  
  
"I can't believe he put them under the Imperius Curse and made Sirius and Kat stage that whole library thing."  
  
"It was sick. And then, of course, we got caught trying to find out what was going on."  
  
"Good old Dumbledore, eh? His last year as a Transfiguration teacher he realizes what's going on in Voldemort's head."  
  
"And saves us from going into that fire Voldemort had magicked to make us fall into and get shipped off to Puerto Rico or who knows where." There were a few seconds of silence between them, in which they picked up their bookbags and fixed their disheveled robes.  
  
"Why does Voldemort hate us so much anyway?" A genuinely concerned look crossed Lily's face for a moment, and James kissed her gently.  
  
"Dunno."  
  
"We must have something he wants."  
  
"Hmmm."  
  
"What?" She ran her finger across his chin.  
  
"I'm just wondering. About what we could have that he wants."  
  
"Maybe he was never loved as a child."  
  
"Or now."  
  
"So that's what we have that he doesn't."  
  
"I knew putting off Potions was a good thing!"  
  
"Oh, shut up, James!"  
  
"Kidding, of course."  
  
"But you're serious about the love thing?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I think I get how you mean the whole love thing."  
  
"Of course. At least it's been six years."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They kissed for a minute and headed off to Potions.  
  
  
  
i love the ending. its dumb, i know, but now you know what happened in the library. well, review anywho [nope, not a typo, lol]. talk l8r... aim me @ meshananotu. 


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